Friends Through It All
by worrywart
Summary: Hannah and Susan were friends from the moment they met. See how this friendship endures through sorrow and war. My entry for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Round 2.


**A/N: This is my entry for round two of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. I had to write a story about a friendship between two Hufflepuffs using particular prompts. The prompts I chose were the emotion 'shock' and the word 'holding'.**

Fall 1996

The dormitory echoed with a loud silence as Hannah folder her jumpers and tucked them into her trunk. The susurration of the material slipping through her hands was somewhat mesmerising and for a moment, she was, blessedly, unable to think of anything at all. After a minute, she wiped haphazardly at the tears drying on her cheeks; Professor Sprout had been very nice and sympathetic when telling her mother was dead. This was followed up with an owl from her father informing her that she would be leaving school that very afternoon. It was only he and Hannah now, he had written, and he couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her. He would Apparate to the grounds and take her home.

As she laid her school books on top of her clothing, she heard the door open and a quiet voice call, "Hannah? Are you in here?"

Hannah sniffed deeply and replied quietly, "Yes." At the sound of footsteps, she turned to see her best friend, Susan Bones hurrying toward her.

"Oh, Hannah, are you all right?" Susan pulled her into a hug as she spoke. For a moment the two stood, holding each other tightly.

The pair was inseparable at school; they had been sorted one after the other in their first year, had most classes together, and slept next to each other in the dorm. They shared many secrets and dreams together, giggled over boys, whinged about homework, classmates and teachers. They had even shared homes over the holidays.

"Come on, come and sit," soothed Susan as she led Hannah to her bed. "What can I do for you?"

"I don't know,'' Hannah answered despondently."I still haven't really processed it to be honest."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Hannah took Susan's hand. "You're the best, you know that?" she said. She released Susan's hand and stood up, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "I feel so…I don't know…shocked, scared, like I'm in a dream. I think that I'll wake up and find it's all been a dream, you know?" Her lip trembled and her throat ached with suppressed emotion. The pair looked at each other. "Tell me it was a dream, Susan. Tell me I'll wake up in a moment, we'll go to Potion's and admire Ernie's backside and try to figure out when Sluggie will fall asleep." She burst into tears then and screamed, "Tell me I am dreaming! Tell me! I am dreaming; I must be!"

Susan leapt from the bed and hugged her friend, who collapsed in grief, taking the pair to the floor. They sat in a heap, holding each other while Susan crooned nonsense words of comfort and sympathy, all the while rubbing her back.

After twenty minutes or so, Hannah was breathing heavily, indicating she had fallen asleep. Susan wiggled out from under her and then levitated the sleeping girl onto her bed. Once she was covered, Susan looked around for any items Hannah may have missed while packing, placing the odd item or two into her trunk, closing the lid. Fussing the covers around the girl again, she sighed and left the room.

May 1998

Susan and Hannah stood side by side in the entrance hall waiting for the fight to begin. Voldemort had issued his one hour warning and time was nearly up. They stood holding hands, a bit shell-shocked from having fought together earlier in the evening against the Death Eaters.

The past year had been long and arduous. Hannah and her father and stayed in hiding for most of the year, mourning the loss of their loved one. Susan herself felt immense loss when it was discovered her aunt had been killed just a few months earlier. She had worked hard with the DA hiding from Snape and the Carrows and attempting to survive the new Hogwarts regime. Today, either way, it would all be over.

The girls had talked and made a pact; if the Order won the war, the girls would be maid-of-honour at each other's weddings. If Voldemort won, they would each perform the killing curse on each other.

With solidarity the pair stood, shoulder to shoulder with their fellow students.

"Together, right?" asked Susan.

"You bet!" replied Hannah and together the pair charged forward, wands blazing.


End file.
